ClueBy
TodayArchiveWord list

Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
YesNo
↻ New worksheet

Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. bat — the animal
  3. rest — what's left
  4. clip — a video
  5. rest — a break
  6. kid — child
  7. shower — rain
  8. swing — in golf
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. shower — to wash
  11. pit — a hole
  12. swing — music
  13. clip — for paper
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. kid — to tease
  20. clip — to cut
  21. swing — to play on
  22. craft — a skill
  23. rest — what's left
  24. pit — in a race

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com